Engraftment failure following bone marrow transplantation in children with thalassemia major using busulfan and cyclophosphamide conditioning.

Thirteen children older than 3 years of age with beta-thalassemia major underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from a full human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched sibling donor in a single institution. These patients received busulfan (Bu). 16 mg/kg followed by cyclophosphamide (Cy) 200 mg/kg for conditioning.

Bone marrow transplantation in patients with Fanconi anemia: experience with cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation conditioning regimen.

Eleven patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT) between March 1985 and May 1990 in a single institution. Ten patients received bone marrow from healthy full human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched siblings and one patient from her father (one antigen mismatch). Ten patients were conditioned with cyclophosphamide (Cy) at a dose of 5 mg/kg per day for 4 days followed by total body irradiation (TBI) for a total of 600 cGy over 3 days.

Bone marrow transplantation for infantile malignant osteopetrosis.

Purpose: Most patients diagnosed with malignant osteopetrosis die during infancy or early childhood from hemorrhage and infection due to bone marrow failure. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been reported to provide curative therapy for this disorder. We report our experience with eight patients with malignant osteopetrosis who underwent BMT.

Systemic amphotericin B versus fluconazole in the management of antibiotic resistant neutropenic fever--preliminary observations from a pilot, exploratory study.

A pilot exploratory study was undertaken to collect preliminary information relating to safety and overall outcome in using intravenous fluconazole (FLUC) for managing antibiotic resistant neutropenic fever (ARNF), with the objective of assessing feasibility of performing a larger prospective controlled study. Patients who were neutropenic from treatment for leukaemia or bone marrow transplantation, received either fluconazole (FLUC) or amphotericin B (AB). Eight of 16 patients (50%) on FLUC and 21 of 25 patients (84%) on AB defervesced; the mean time to defervescence was 11.

Myelopathy after intrathecal chemotherapy. A case report with unique magnetic resonance imaging changes.

Background: Paraplegia caused by intrathecal chemotherapy has no known pathognomonic features and is a diagnosis of exclusion.

Methods: The authors reported the clinical and neuroimaging findings in one patient with this syndrome.

Results: The patient had severe paraplegia with urinary retention and impaired pain and touch sensation below T-10 with sparing of proprioception and vibration sense.

Controlled study of fluconazole in the prevention of fungal infections in neutropenic patients with haematological malignancies and bone marrow transplant recipients.

The efficacy and safety of oral fluconazole versus a polyene regimen in preventing mycoses in neutropenic patients was compared. Patients with haematological malignancy or bone marrow transplantation received as antifungal prophylaxis either fluconazole 200 mg daily or a regimen consisting of clotrimazole trouches 10 mg twice daily with mycostatin, 500,000 I.U.

Successful combined surgical and medical treatment of fusarium infection after bone marrow transplantation.

The usual management of opportunistic fusarium infection in the immunocompromized patient is with systemic antifungals, despite which little impact is made on the mortality which approaches 100%. We describe a case of fusarium infection of the foot in a bone marrow transplant recipient which was successfully managed with local wide excisional surgery and intravenous liposomal amphotericin B.

Double-blind randomized study of the effect of infusion rates on toxicity of amphotericin B.

Results of a double-blind randomized non-crossover study of rapid (45 min) versus slow (4 h) infusion of amphotericin B administered to 20 patients with proven or suspected fungal infection are reported. Toxicity was higher in the rapid infusion group than it was in the slow infusion group (mean total 7-day chill score, 173 +/- 276 versus 20 +/- 30 [P less than 0.01]; mean total 7-day dosage of meperidine required to abate rigors, 180 +/- 133 versus 58 +/- 78 mg [P less than 0.

Morphologic immunophenotypic and cytogenetic patterns of adult acute myeloid leukemia in Saudi Arabia.

During a 6-year period we received bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) samples from 178 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). All patient BM, and occasionally, PB samples were characterized according to FAB criteria, and by immunophenotyping (IP) and cytogenetics (CG). This report summarizes the findings in the 125 patients who were older than 15 years.

Multiple myeloma: A review of 92 cases at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A review of 92 cases of multiple myeloma (66 males and 26 females) seen at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre from October 1975 through December 1987 revealed the age for affected patients ranged from 23 to 90 years (mean, 56 years). Six percent of the patients were less than 40 years old at the time of diagnosis. Bone pain was the most common presenting symptom in our patients (80%), most frequently involving the back.

Morphological and immunological pattern of blastic transformation in chronic myeloid leukemia in Saudi Arabia: Study of 90 transformations among 248 patients.

We examined the pattern of blastic transformation in 90 of 248 patients (36%) with chronic myeloid leukemia who were seen at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre between 1975 and 1988. The mean and median ages of all patients were 38.2 and 36.

Hodgkin's disease in an adult with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

A 53 year old woman with common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) developed Hodgkin's disease 20 months after the initial diagnosis of ALL. This is by far the oldest case of Hodgkin's disease complicating ALL. The unusual presentation and the aetiology of Hodgkin's disease in ALL are discussed.

Cytogenetics of acute promyelocytic leukaemia: incidence of t(15;17) at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

This is the first report from a laboratory in the U.K. of the incidence of t(15;17) in acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Detection of micrometastases in patients with primary breast cancer.

An immunocytochemical method was used to screen smears obtained at primary surgery from multiple bone-marrow sites in 110 patients with breast cancer; at this time other techniques did not reveal metastases. Tumour cells were detected in the bone-marrow of 31 (28%) patients. The number of cells detected ranged from 1 to greater than 500; none was detected in conventionally stained smears.

Mismatched family donors for bone-marrow transplantation as treatment for acute leukaemia.

35 patients were treated for acute myeloid leukaemia or acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with allogeneic bone-marrow grafts from a parent, child, or sibling who was mismatched at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). 11 of these patients are alive at least 6 months after grafting, 5 of them after more than 2 years. Of the 15 patients aged under 20 at the time of the graft, 8 are alive and well 6 months to 3 years later.

Mianserin and blood dyscrasias.

1 The haematological side-effects of mianserin have been studied. 2 There are 26 reported cases, of which 19 appear to show a definite association with the drug. A high proportion are female.